Last December, when I exited my usual NJ Transit train in Montclair, I immediately came upon a German Shepherd in distress. The dog -- later named Monty -- had been hit by a previous train, and was now laying on the hard snow, immobile but for his head twisting around in desperate confusion. A handful of police officers were gently attending to him.

Even in his panic, Monty never nipped or barked at them. I took a photo and wrote a blog, hoping Monty's owner, if he had one, might see it.

Monty was immediately brought to an emergency vet in Union. He had a fractured skull and severed spinal cord which left his hind quarters paralyzed, and was listed as day-to-day.

I thought I'd never hear about him again, but what shocked me even more than Monty's miraculous recovery (see the latest video update below) was the number of folks who read my blog and felt they'd already heard quite enough.

They were incensed that I wrote something "banal" that was also such a "downer", and dutifully expressed themselves (mostly on Montclair's popular Baristanet site) in that special, loving way we tend to associate with blog comments:

"[Joel] apparently felt he had to post something no matter that he basically had nothing of substance to say."

"Many of us are just questioning the timing of the article. Here it is Christmas Week, the economy's in the pooper, the weather sucks, there's bad news everywhere you look, and Baristanet leads off with a real downer of a story."

"You sure did start my morning off terribly with, again, a banal, cliched piece of writing...Based on what I've read, too, there are at least 20 regular posters here who write a heck of a lot better and more interestingly than you do."

"[Joel] seems a self-centered jackass that thinks his world should rock everyone's."

You'd think I was writing about something provocative and controversial like -- oh, I don't know -- a breastfeeding baby doll.

But Rosemary DiStefano, who rescued Monty and runs a special-needs Philadelphia-based dog rescue operation called Faith's Hope, stayed in touch with me about Monty's progress.

Yesterday, Rosemary sent me new video of a rejuvenated Monty in his somewhat-pimped doggy wheelchair. Since so many of us are parenting animals in addition to children, I'm sharing it here (inspiring-animal-story-haters, bring it on!)

Rosemary reports that Monty, whose right ear has so much infection-related scar tissue that it flops over from the weight, is doing very well now, all things considered.

"He's a pro at getting around in a wheelchair and just comes alive when he is in that chair," she writes. Monty's being fostered on 14 acres of land by a loving couple in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, but like many stray animals, he needs a more permanent home.

"[Monty] is about the most wonderful, sweet, good-natured, 'take-life-as-it-comes-and-be-happy' creature that all of us who have come to know him have ever met," Rosemary continues. "He has survived against all odds and continues to inspire everyone he meets. Now he just needs the happy ending he so truly deserves."

As for the right time and place to write sympathetically about a local dog who gets hit by a train ... well I'm no blogging scholar, but if something manages to break through the noisy news cycle, get around my short attention span, and make me stop and feel, then chances are it can do the same for you.

And even if not for me or you, I'm happy to do this for Monty. I can't give him a home, but at least I can give him some recognition, as well as a better shot at one.